THE 


RUBAIYAT 


A  PERSIAN  - 
KITTEN 


;-NRLF 


OLIVER  HERFORD 


The  Rubaiyat  of  a 
Persian  Kitten 


THE  KITTEN'S  GARDEN 
OF  VERSES 

WRITTEN  AND  ILLUSTRATED  BY 

OLIVER  HERFORD 

Sl.OOnef 


"A  worthy  companion  to  the  'Rubaiyat 
of  a  Persian  Kitten.'  " 

— Springfield  Republican. 

"  In  each  one  of  Mr.  Herford's  charming 
drawings  we  find  a  bewitching  picture 
of  kittenhood." — Chicago  Evening  Post. 

CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 


The 

Rubaiyat 

of  a 

pereian  Kitten 


By 

Oliver  f)crford 


Charles  Scribncrs  Sons 
JVktnxii 


0]0J .7 


Copyright,  1 904,  by 
Oliver  f)crf ord 


Cbe  Rubaiyat  of  a 
Persian  Kitten 


241124 


afce !  for  the  Golden  Cat  has 

put  to  flight 
jVIouse  of  Darkness 

with  bis  paw  of  Light: 
Ctthich  means,  in  plain  and 

simple  every-day 
dnoriental  Speech-  -'Cbc  Dawn 

is  bright. 


€ 


bey  say  the  6arly  Bird  the 
<Horm  shall  taste, 
rise,  O  Kitten !  ^therefore, 
sleeping,  waste 

The  fruits  of  Virtue  ?  Quick ! 

the  Garly  Bird 
soon  be  on  the  f  lutter— O 

make  haste! 


Cbe  early  Bird  has  gone,  and 
with  him  ta'en 
rbe  early  Qttorm— Hlas!  the 

JYIoral  fs  plain, 
O  Senseless  Cdorm !    TTbus, 

thus  we  are  repaid 
for  Garly  Rising — I  shall  doze 

again. 


Che  JVIouse  makes  merry  fmid 
the  Larder  Shelves, 
The  Bird  for  Dinner  in  the 

Garden  delves, 
1  often  wonder  what  the 

creatures  eat 

One  half  so  toothsome  as  they 

are  'Themselves. 


Hnd  that  Inverted  Bowl  of 
Sfcyblue  pelf 
"Chat  helpless  lies  upon  the 

pantry  Shelf- 
Lift  not  your  eyes  to  It  for 

help,  for  It 
Is  quite  as  empty  as  you  are 

yourself 


Che  Ball  no  question  makes  of 
Hyes  or  ]Voes, 
But  right  or  left,  as  strikes  the 

Kitten,  goes; 
Y*t  why,  altbot  I  toss  it  far 

Hfield, 
It  still  returnetb — Goodness 

only  knows! 


H  Secret  presence  tbat  my 
likeness  feigns, 

Hnd  yet,  quicksilver-like,  eludes 

my  pains- 
In  vain  I  look  for  f)im 

behind  the  glass ; 
f)e  is  not  there,  and  yet  f)e  still 

remains. 


,  - 


-:/  - 


bat  out  of  airy  ]Votbing  to 

invoke 

H  senseless  Something  to  resist 

the  stroke 
Of  unpermitted  paw — upon 

the  pain 
Of  everlasting  penalties- -if 

broke. 


r 


I  sometimes  think  the  pussy- 
Willows  grey 

Hre  Hngel  Kittens  who  have  lost 

their  way, 
Hnd  every  Bulrush  on  the 

river  bank 
H  Cat-'Cail  from  some  lovely 

Cat  astray. 


- 


8omctimc9  I  think  perchance 
that  HUah  may, 
Often  he  created  Cats,  haw 

thrown  away 
'Che  trails  f)e  marred  in 

making,  and  they  grew 
'Co  Cat-rails  and  to  pussy- 

CdiUows  grey. 


.  . 


Hnd  lately,  when  I  was  not 
feeling  fit, 

Bereft  alike  of  piety  and  Slit, 
'Cbere  came  an  Hngel  Shape 

and  offered  me 
H  fragrant  plant  and  bid  me 

taste  of  it. 


_ '    '    •• 


Cwas  that  reviving  F)erb, 
that  Spicy  Sdced, 
€be  Cat-]Vip.    rbof  'tis  good  in 

time  of  need, 
Hb,  feed  upon  it  ligbtly,  for 

wbo  knows 

"Co  wbat  unlovely  antics  it  may 

lead 


Strange- -is  it  not?     that  of 
the  numbers  who 
Before  me  passed  this  Door  of 

Darkness  tbrof, 

Not  one  returns  thro'  it  again, 

altbo' 
Ofttimes  I  've  waited  bere  an 

bour  or  two. 


but  a  T^ent  where  takes 
bis  one  jSigbt's  Rest 
H  Rodent  to  tbe  Realms  of 

Deatb  address'd, 
Olben  Cooh,  arising,  looks  for 

bim  and  tben- 
Baitst  and  prepares  it  for 

anotber  Guest* 


Cbey  say  the  Lion  and  the 
Lizard  keep 
'Che  Courts  where  jfamshyd 

gloried  and  drank  deep. 
'Che  Lion  is  my  cousin ;  X 

don't  know 

jfamsbyd  is — nor  shall  it 
break  my  sleep. 


Impotent  glimpses  of  the 
6ame  displayed 

Qpon  the  Counter — temptingly 

arrayed ; 
f)itber  and  thither  moved  or 

checked  or  weighed, 
Hnd  one  by  one  back  in  the  Ice 

Chest  laid. 


I 


bat  if  the  Sole  could  fling 

the  Ice  aside, 
Hud  with  me  to  some  Hrea's 

haven  cflide- 
Cttere  *t  not  a  Shame,  were  't 

not  a  shame  for  it 
In  this  Cold  prison  crippled  to 

abide? 


-. 


8ome  for  the  Glories  of  the 
Sole,  and  Some 
]Mew  for  the  proper  Bowl  of 

JMilk  to  come, 

Hb,  take  the  fish  and  let  your 

Credit  go, 
Hnd  plead  the  rumble  of  an 

empty  "Cum. 


'•s ^Jf^ 


One  thing  is  certain:  tbo'  this 
Stolen  Bite 
Should  be  my  last  and  Cdratb 

consume  me  quite, 
One  taste  of  It  within  the  Hrea 

caught 
Better  than  at  the  Table  lost " 

outright* 


Indeed,  indeed  Repentance  oft 
before 

I  swore,  but  was  I  hungry  when 

I  swore? 
Hnd  then  and  then  came  Cook 

-with  f)ose  in  band- 
Hnd  drowned  my  glory  in  a 

sorry  pour. 


bat  without  asking  hither 

harried  whence, 
Hnd  without  asking  whither 

harried  bence- 
O,  many  a  taste  of  that 

forbidden  Sole 

JVIust  down  the  memory  of  that. 

Insolence, 


v-'08  • : 


neaven,  but  the  vision  of  a 
flowing  Bowl; 

Hnd  F)ell,  the  sizzle  of  a  frying 

Sole 

F)eard  in  the  hungry  Darkness, 

where  jVIyself , 

So  rudely  cast,  must  impotently 

roll 


Che  Vine  has  a  tough  fibre 
which  about 

3dhile  clings  my  Being;-  -let  the 

Canine  flout 

Oil  his  Bass  Voice  be  pitched 

to  such  loud  key 
It  shall  unlock  the  door  1  mew 

without. 


Up  from  the  Basement  to  the 
Seventh  flat 
I  rose,  and  on  the  Crown  of 

fashion  sat> 

Hnd  many  a  Ball  unravelled 

by  the  way- 

But  not  the  Raster's  angry  Bawl 

of  "Scat  1" 


. 


Chen  to  the  Olcll  of  Olisdom  I 
-and  lo! 

CHitb  my  own  paw  I  wrought  to 

make  it  flow, 

Hnd  This  was  all  the  Harvest 

that  1  reaped: 

come  like  Kittens  and  like 

Cats  we  go. 


hy  be  this  Ink  the  fount  of 

Cdit?— who  dare 
Blaspheme  the  glistening  pen- 
drink  as  a  snare? 
H  Blessing?--!  should  spread 
it,  should  I  not? 
Hnd  if  a  Curse-  -why,  then  upset 

it! — there! 


H  moment's  F)alt,  a 
momentary  Taste 
Of  Bitter,  and  amid  the  Trickling 

CHaste 

X  wrought  strange  shapes  from 
JMah  to  jVIahi,  yet 
I  know  not  what  I  wrote,  nor 

why  they  chased. 


TVTow  I  beyond  the  pale  am 
I  1     safely  past, 
Of  but  the  long,  long  time  their 

Rage  shall  last, 
Cdhich,  tbo'  they  call  to  supper, 

I  shall  heed 
Hs  a  Stone  Cat  should  heed  a 

pebble  cast. 


, 


Hnd  that  perverted  Soul 
beneath  the  Sfcy 

*Cbey  call  the  Dog-  -freed  not  bis 

angry  Cry; 

all  bis  threats  can  make 
me  budge  one  bit, 
]Vor  all  bis  Gmpty  Bluster 

terrify. 


Chey  are  no  other  than  a 
moving  Show 

Of  whirling  Shadow  Shapes  that 

come  and  go 

)VLe-ward  thro'  ]Yloon  illumined 
Darkness  hurled, 
In  midnight,  by  the  Lodgers  in 

the  Row, 


IVTJyself  when  young  did  eagerly 
IT!    frequent 
'Cbe  Backyard  fence  and  beard 

great  Hrgument 
Hbout  it,  and  Hbout,  yet 

evermore 

Came  out  witb  fewer  fur  tban  in 

I  went. 


K. 


•'-••"• 


Hb,  me!  if  you  and  I  could 
but  conspire 
To  grasp  this  Sorry  Scheme  of 

things  entire, 
ftlould  we  not  shatter  it  to 

bits,  and  then 

Gnfold  it  nearer  to  our  Heart's 

Desire? 


-' 


'  .^ 


Cbo'  Two  and  Two  make  fbur 
by  rule  of  line. 
Or  they  make  Twenty-two  by 

Logic  fine, 
Of  all  tbe  figures  one  may 

fatbomt  I 

Sball  ne'er  be  floored  by  anytbing 

but 


Hnd  fear  not  lest  Gxistence 
shut  the  Door 
On  you  and  ]V[e,  to  open  it  no 

more* 
'Cbe  Cream  of  Life  from  out 

your  Bowl  shall  pour 
]Vine  times— ere  it  lie  broken  on 

the  floor. 


80,  if  the  fish  you  Steal— the 
Cream  you  drink- 
ends  in  what  all  begins  and  ends 

in,  Think, 

dnless  the  Stern  Recorder 

points  to  j 
tlho'  They  would  drown  you 

still  you  shall  not  sink. 


i'  '*"• 


^ 

,-: 


. 


VTTVERj=5TTV  ^  OAT 


YB 


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